Rum tasting at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, May 9th 2019: Rum #6 Nose: Immense hogo - esters literally pouring out of the glass - you can almost visualize the aromas. Diesel oil, cardboard, burning tyres, plasticine, putty, acetone, machine oil, rotting fruit, rainforest humus, turpentine, cockroaches, sweaty funk, leather, old running shoes. I'm not kidding, and it's wonderful. Palate: Sweet and vegetal with an over-ripe citrus and banana note. As it develops honey, lemon juice, cider vinegar, gherkin juice, dolmades (!), chutney and briny olives emerge. These are balanced by a sweet, aromatic, spicy, musty, nutty hogo. Pastrami on rye with sweet fruit relish, avocado and a mushy mango. There's even a faint smoky note! I promise I'm not making this up. Finish: Loooooooooong. The extraordinary palate slowly diminishes in intensity - over a few hours. We tasted a powerful spiced rum after this but an hour later the aftertaste I had was still of this epic expression. This is the most Jamaican-like non-Jamaican rum I've ever tasted. It doesn't just have hogo, it's like an exercise in painting using nothing but esters. It's neither sweet nor dry - it jumps right past descriptors like that into a space where shades of mineral and vegetal are all that matter. The most remarkable thing is that it's *delicious*, as long as you like this sort of thing. Out of a roomful of people only 3 thought this the outstanding expression of the evening. It wasn't my favourite but I enjoyed it a great deal - enough to buy a bottle. If you like sweet, sugary rums then steer well clear of this - it would be like drinking neat Worcestershire sauce when you're expecting orange juice. However if you love your hogo and are up for a roller-coaster ride I can thoroughly recommend it. "Very Good" : 85/100 (4 stars)